Stand My Ground
by afamiliarsmile
Summary: Oneshot. Caroline returns to visit a certain Salvatore after he starts digging into things better left alone. Hinted Klaroline.


**Author's Note**: I'm not sure exactly what this is. I wrote it on a whim and published it on Tumblr a couple of weeks ago and figured it was time to post it here.

I hope you guys enjoy it! Please leave me a review letting me know what you think!

**Disclaimer**: _I do not own and am in no way affiliated with The Vampire Diaries._

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><p>"Hello, Damon." She would be lying if she said she didn't take some delight in seeing him spin around so quickly. She would definitely be lying if she said she wasn't absolutely thrilled to see the shock, and finally, the horror that settled there on his face before he could mask it. She used to be so afraid of him, so terrified of displeasing him. Upsetting Damon meant death back then. What did it mean to her now? Very little, if she was being honest.<p>

"Blondie," he greeted and she shook her head with a giggle.

"It's Caroline actually," she retorted with another step forward. She could only imagine how she looked to him with her wild hair and frantic eyes, filled with the blood from her last kill. The kill that still clung to her chin and clothes. She suspected she did look like the demon so many made her out to be.

"Having fun?" he asked in that haughty manner of his as he gestured to her clothes with that trademark arrogant smirk.

"You've been tracking me," she pointed out as she ran her hand along a book gathering dust on the table.

"You've been making quite a mess."

"You shouldn't be tracking me," she hissed quickly, narrowing her eyes on his frame. "Shouldn't you know better by now?"

"Well, you know Elena. She doesn't give up even when it's a lost cause."

"What more could she possibly want?" Caroline snarled quickly. The sound seemed to startle Damon though he was quick to disguise his surprise. "She got Stefan back."

"You're her best friend. Do you really think she's going to let you go?"

"She has to," she sighed before moving across the room, eyes lingering on the photograph of Elena on the desk. For a moment she wondered how often Damon looked at the picture with regret. "Stefan didn't stay."

"He wanted what was best for Elena."

"How long has she been married?" she found herself asking even though she knew very well that she shouldn't be asking questions. She shouldn't even be in this stupid house.

"A couple years now," he replied quickly and Caroline noticed the way he voice dropped.

"Is she happy?"

"Matt is everything she wanted in life. She has a family now," he swallowed once and Caroline suspected it was to erase the bitter tone of his. But he was failing.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm freaking miserable, Caroline, is that what you want me to say?"

"I don't want you to say anything, Damon," she rolled her eyes before realizing she never should have asked the question to begin with."I want you to stop tracking me."

He was silent for a moment. She was reminded of a time when she would have been terrified to see him looking at her the way he was now. He was disgusted, she could see that. He wasn't trying to hide anything. She found it humorous really; he had never been a saint himself. For the fun of it she kept her posture defiant, staring him down, the almost demonic features still visible, never faltering. He stared at her a moment longer, making eye contact and shaking his head. Disappointed? She wasn't sure.

"Is Stefan with you?" he asked after a moment and Caroline smiled sadly.

"You know I can't tell you anything," she replied almost sympathetically.

"Is he safe?"

"Damon," she sighed before turning around and moving to the window. She could see Stefan there among the trees, watching her intently. She could see his eyes flicker behind her and every now and again, trying to desperately catch some sight of his brother. She smiled at him weakly, thankful that Damon couldn't see her in that moment. "Give up the search."

"I need to find him, Caroline," he whispered and she turned to face him again. He seemed so different now, more vulnerable than she had ever seen him. "He's all I have left."

"You have Katherine," she was quick to point out.

"You really think she wouldn't rather have Stefan?" Damon rolled his eyes at that and laughed. It was a cold sound and Caroline could only shrug meekly. "She's only here because Klaus was getting too close to her own little search party."

"Speaking of," she interrupted, "You are getting awfully close, Damon. Too close for his liking."

"Then tell him to come threaten me himself instead of sending out his little minions!" Damon growled and Caroline found herself pinned against the wall with his hand at her throat. "So how about you report back to him like the good little dog you are?"

"I don't want you to die, Damon!" she fired back quickly, pulling his hand away from her throat and letting it fall limply at his side.

"How sweet," he snarled in response before turning away from her. "But you don't want him to die either."

"It's complicated," she sighed before finally flopping down on the couch. Obviously the threatening demeanor wasn't working and she slowly let the more human features slip back. She wiped at the dried blood with her fingers, flickering her tongue out to capture just a bit of it, much to Damon's disgust.

"Not really, Blondie," he chuckled before pouring himself a glass of bourbon. "He needs someone to keep his bed warm at night, most men, even vampires, do. Does it sting knowing how little you mean to him? I remember how clingy you are."

"Go to hell," she hissed between clenched teeth, snatching the glass out of his hands.

"Obviously it does," he tsked, so freaking condescending and she found herself draining the glass just to throw it has his head. She watched it smash against the wall once he stepped out of the way, jaw clenched and wishing it had made contact with its target. "How is the Original in bed anyway? I feel like he's trying to overcompensate for something with his invincible-hybrid spiel he's got going."

"Stop it," she fired back, desperately trying to keep her voice level.

"I don't think I will."

"I'm serious, Damon!"

"Oh, I'm trembling."

It was her turn to have him pinned to the wall his time. There were embarrassingly loud growls seeping past her lips. Her fingers nails dug into the skin of his neck, drawing blood. Instinctively Damon's own fangs grew erect, threatening her, a warning she decided not to acknowledge. She tossed him across the room, and into a table, before he had the chance to make another move. She was before him before he could stand, a stake in her hands that soon found itself lodged in his abdomen. This was a warning even Damon wasn't stupid enough to ignore. His fingers shot to the wound groping as if he were blind before finally giving the bit of wood a final tug. It fell to the floor with a loud clatter and a splash as the blood was left in streaks across the floor.

"Stefan doesn't want to be found," she said finally and flicked a strand of hair away from her eyes.

"You're lying," he wheezed as if the wind had been knocked out of him before rising to his feet.

"He's trying to protect you. Don't you understand that?" she whispered softly. There was that sense of vulnerability there again and she fought the urge to stroke his hair in comfort the way she often saw mother's do to their frightened children. But she held her ground instead, trying to communicate all she couldn't say, all she was forbidden to say. "Even now he just wants to keep you safe."

"And what about you?" he grunted, lifting his shirt to watch the wound heal before wincing and moving to make yet another glass of alcohol. "He caught you by mistake. Why do you stay?"

"Like I said, it's complicated," she repeated evenly with a brow arched and he scoffed before downing his glass.

"Don't tell me you love him, Caroline," he chuckled before turning to look her way. "Even _you_ are smarter than that."

She could only stare at him, giving him a weak smile. She didn't speak. She couldn't tell him the words he wanted to hear. She would be lying of course. And she hardly understood the situation herself when she thought back on it. It was certainly a twisted little tale, perhaps one he might be able to sympathize with in some way. Katherine had manipulated him after all. But it was different and at this point she doubted he would be willing to hear her out. She was expected back soon. This visit was meant to be brief and she had already stayed far longer than she had originally planned.

"I miss you," she said instead, nodding once to reassure him even as he stared at her skeptically. "I really do, if you can believe it. I miss your taunting and that stupid thing you do with your eyes. I miss that smirk and your protective nature that you try so hard to hide. I even miss your ridiculous obsession with my best friend and the looks you shoot her way. It is funny isn't it? I was always competing with her, but now it's a reminder of something familiar. Something routine."

"Caroline—"

"Stop tracking us, Damon, for both our sakes," she said carefully. She didn't wait for his reply and he didn't seem to entirely have one at first. She just walked past him, pressing a kiss to his cheek so lightly she almost doubted that he even felt it. She stroked the skin there once, trying to smile one last time for him before turning toward the door. She had just passed through the archway when she heard him, quiet, and tentative.

"I miss you too, Caroline."


End file.
